Rudolf Hoess and AuschwitzAfter the Second World War the world began to tell the story of the atrocities and crimes committed by the Nazis against the Jews and other enemies of the Nazis. The international community wanted answers and called for the prosecution of the criminals who participated in the murder of millions of people across Europe. The SS was responsible for playing a major role in the Holocaust by being involved in the death of millions of innocent lives. Concentration camps were established throughout Europe to detain Jews, political prisoners, prisoners of war, and enemies of the Third Reich. The largest camp during World War II was Auschwitz under the command of SS Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Hoess; Auschwitz has emerged as the site of the largest mass murder in world history. (The, 2005)The Schutzstaffel or SS was created in 1925 by the Nazi Party to protect Adolf Hitler and other prominent Nazi leaders. Heinrich Himmler was appointed head of the SS by Hitler in 1929. The SS were racial elites with deep loyalty to Hitler and the advancement of Germany. (SS, 2013) To become members of the SS all candidates had to undergo selections based on their racial origin and support for the Nazi party. In Nazi Germany the SS was responsible for security identification of ethnicity, settlement and population policy, and intelligent collection and analysis. (SS, 2013) They were also responsible for the concentration camp system and police force. In 1939 the SS took on the responsibility of "solving" the Jewish question. (SS And The Holocaust, 2013) In the impending invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler ordered the SS to implement settlement plans and population policies in the conquered Soviet territories. Special SS Einsatzgrupp...... half of the document ......ted Auschwitz on January 27, 1945. (Pietka, 2014) Commander Hoess blamed his responsibility and promised Hitler that it was not up to him to determine whether the extermination of the Jews was necessary or not. (Hoess, 144) Hoess states that after the mass exterminations began in Auschwitz he was no longer happy and dissatisfied with himself for his participation. (Hoess, 156) He initially escaped capture by the Allies, but British police arrested Hoess on March 11, 1946. Two days earlier his vial of poison had broken, preventing him from committing suicide. (Hoess, 173) He was then handed over to the Polish authorities where he was tried for the murder of millions of people in Poland; Rudolf Hoess was executed on April 2, 1947. (The History of Auschwitz, 2005) Hoess served three and a half years as commandant of Auschwitz and nine years in SS camp service. (Hoess, 157)